


Third Eye Blind

by kopple



Series: To Live Again [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But not exactly, Canon, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reincarnation, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Self-Insert, Sirius is a bad guardian, Slice of Life, Smart Harry, but he tries, kind of, so does remus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29537571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopple/pseuds/kopple
Summary: “Seeing is believing.” Those were the words Remy lived by, but not once did she see anything she hadn’t already believed in.When she died and became Harry Potter, she saw.And she believed.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter
Series: To Live Again [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184978
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	1. Prologue

It was a cold and dreary morning, and Remy had exams.

And not just any exam. This particular one was worth an entire sixty percent of her term grade, something Remy deemed terribly unfair and inhumane.

Yet here she was, walking willingly toward her doom, shivering violently from the dampness that had infiltrated her heavy coat. As she stomped along the sidewalk, she idly pondered what she would do if she were someone with power — someone like the Prime Minister.

All exams, Remy decided, would be made illegal.

This decision was in no way related to the fact that Remy had essentially slacked off the entire term and had failed spectacularly at cramming for everything in one night, nor was it because Remy had forgotten that today was the day of the exam until her friend had reminded her yesterday. Nope. It was simply because Remy thought they were damaging to the students’ mental health … or something. 

It was probably best that Remy wasn’t the Prime Minister.

With an unhappy grunt, Remy quit her idle daydreams and instead focused on remembering the path to her university – something that was necessary as she had the worst sense of direction out of everyone she knew, barring her ninety-year-old grandma with dementia.

Usually, it wouldn’t be a concern since she usually drove her blue Toyota Camry to school, with the bossy GPS AI nagging her to turn at the right places. Unfortunately, it had broken down on her the other day despite her careful maintenance – a concerning development since she was studying mechanical engineering.

To make the matters worse, it had been raining all morning with no signs of stopping despite Remy’s fervent prayers. It was on days like these that she wondered if coming to the UK was worth it. Perhaps staying behind in the States to help her dad with the family business would have been the better choice – not that there was anything she could do now.

Remy’s sense of foreboding only grew as her campus drew near, and she silently recited all the equations and theorems she had tried to memorize the previous night. In that moment of inattention, the bleary-eyed student failed to notice the bus that was careening towards her at an alarming speed.

It all happened in a matter of seconds.

She briefly registered being slammed on the ground. Then pain. Lots of it.

Did she die? Was that really it? All the studying and late-night cramming sessions, what were they all for? She didn’t even get the chance to test her luck with the lucky die she was going to use on the multiple-choice section of the test, assuming it got past the testing security people. 

_What a damn shame._

She couldn’t bring herself to be angry though, as she felt an odd sort of calm spread through her comfortingly before her senses faded into oblivion.

_She was so going to sue._

* * *

After days of nothingness, or perhaps mere seconds, Remy’s senses returned. The transition was horribly jarring, and a sense of vertigo harshly swept through her as a flood of sensations streamed back into her consciousness all at once. It was all too much, and she shut her eyes for a second to regain her bearings.

Once she felt like she wasn’t going to vomit, she opened her eyes once more to take stock of her surroundings. It seemed like she was in a tiny room, with what looked to be a small door to her left. A musky scent filled the air, causing her to scrunch up her nose in mild disgust.

It was dim, with only a few soft rays of light permeating through the cracks of the door. Remy had to squint in order to make out the objects carelessly strewn around the room, and even then, she could only make out their general outline.

The rudimentary investigative work she had been conducting was rudely interrupted by somebody rapping against one of the walls she had been leaning on, and she instinctively scrambled away in alarm. The flimsy door rattled violently under the force, sending dust and debris showering down from the ceiling.

“Up! Get up! Now!” a shrill voice of what Remy assumed to be a woman screeched, followed by another sharp rap. When Remy didn’t respond immediately, she screeched the word ‘up’ once again. Remy thought the rude lady was being rather redundant. Thankfully, she seemed to have left as Remy heard footsteps going away from her.

If this was the afterlife, Remy was sorely disappointed. She hadn’t been expecting much, but this was a bit pathetic. She watched as a couple of spiders paraded across the ratty mattress she had been sitting on, feeling very cross. Where were the singing angels? The pearly gates? Or even the flaming fires of hell?

“Are you up yet?” The lady had returned, much to her displeasure.

“Uh…yes,” Remy said. To her great surprise, her voice came out oddly squeaky and shrill — like that of a child’s. The lady plowed on before she could digest that nugget of information.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

_Duddy? Who the hell was Duddy? Who names their kid Duddy?_

With great reluctance, she decided it was high time she went out and faced the music. It was probably best to play along for now – she needed more information. Perhaps finding out the identity of the banshee outside the door might even help her figure out what had happened.

Slowly and carefully, she gave the door a tentative push, inwardly cringing at the loud creaking noise it made. The harsh fluorescent light flooded the small room, painfully stabbing into her not yet adjusted eyes.

Blinking hard, Remy noticed for the first time just how blurry her vision was. _My vision wasn_ _’t that bad, was it?_ Frowning, she turned back toward the room in search of glasses, or contacts, for she knew she wouldn’t be able to walk without tripping in this state.

 _There!_ A pair of battered-looking glasses were sat on an equally battered-looking cardboard box, and she put it on without much enthusiasm. The glasses seemed to be held up by an ungodly amount of tape and looked to be one light tap away from crumbling into dust. Remy put ‘replace glasses’ on her mental to-do list before moving on.

As she exited, she noticed that the small room she had been in was not, in fact, a room. It was a small cupboard under the stairs instead. How Remy had even fit in there was beyond her, however, a quick glance down at her own body had told her everything – she had the body of a child, a small one at that. _What on earth?_

“Well, what are you waiting for? The bacon isn’t going to cook itself,” the obnoxious lady urged.

“Right,” Remy said, swallowing her swiftly growing irritation. She would have to ruminate on her transformation later, shocking as it is.

Following the smell of bacon, she was able to find the kitchen easily. Oddly enough, the kitchen looked to be prepared for her already, with a stool placed in front of the stove. Carefully climbing on the stool, Remy grabbed the spatula on the table and began tending to the bacon.

"Comb your hair!” an unfamiliar voice barked from behind her, almost causing her to jump off the stool in shock.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with a rather large man with a comical-looking mustache. Said man lumbered over to the dining table, grabbing the newspaper lying on the counter as he went.

 _What a rude greeting_ , Remy thought, but still did as she was told and ran a taming hand through her hair. Unexpectedly, she found that her hair was short and messy – like a boy’s. Given the kind of day Remy was having, she hadn’t been too shocked at the discovery.

Turning her attention back to the sizzling bacon, Remy expertly flipped them onto a nearby plate, her mouth-watering with anticipation. Her college diet had insisted of crappy Tesco ramen with the occasional Kraft Dinner on good days, so she was excited to have something different for once. She deserved it, after the kind of day she had been having. Remy spied a carton of eggs on the counter and decided to make some scrambled eggs as well. Bacon was hardly a balanced meal by itself, after all.

After putting on the finishing touch of black pepper, Remy painstakingly placed the plates on the dining table. There were a ton of neatly wrapped presents on the table, making her job way more difficult than it had to be. Just as she had sat down and was ready to start inhaling the food, the lady from earlier entered the kitchen with yet another unfamiliar face. This time, it was a boy who bore an uncanny resemblance to the man sitting at the dining table. Remy assumed them to be father and son, making the lady his mom.

A pit of terror appeared in her stomach at the thought. What would that make her, if she was also living under their roof. _What if she was the boy_ _’s brother?_ Remy quickly waved the nauseating thought away, unwilling to even entertain the idea for even a second. _Perhaps she was in hell after all._

The boy, who she’ll dub ‘Duddy’ for now, began rifling through a pile of presents and counting them as he did.

"Thirty-six," Duddy said, looking up. "That's two less than last year."

Remy resisted the urge to congratulate the boy on his ability to do basic arithmetic.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

Remy watched their exchange with barely concealed wonder – she had never seen such entitlement in her life, especially not from kids his age. She continued staring, bacon long forgotten, as the boy proceeded to unwrap several expensive-looking gifts, one of which was a VCR – something Remy never sees anymore unless she was at her grandparents’.

The loud ringing of the phone permeated the room, and the mom went and answered it. When she returned, she wore a pinched look on her thin face.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Remy’s direction.

Remy’s eyes widened at her words as the pieces of the puzzle came together in her head.

Vernon. Mrs. Figg. Aunt Marge. The cupboard under the stairs. The spoiled boy named Duddy, or Dudley rather. The crappy glasses. It was all too much to be a pure coincidence. She couldn’t believe it took her this long to put it together – she was a huge Harry Potter fan. She almost felt ashamed at her slow revelation.

The two adults continued their discussion, but Remy wasn’t paying attention anymore – she needed to know for certain.

Heart pounding, Remy hurriedly snatched up an unused spoon from the table and with shaky hands, raised it to her face. Right there, on the polished surface of the back of the spoon, was a clear image of a young boy with bright green eyes and messy black hair. A sweep of her bangs revealed, to no-one’s surprise, the iconic lightning-bolt-shaped scar.

She was Harry Potter.

She paused and looked away for a split second before looking back to make sure she wasn’t having some sort of hallucination; who knew what sort of side effects being dead had?

Nope. The lightning-bolt-shaped star was still there, clear as day.

Her spoon dropped to the floor with a soft clink, as did the bottom of her jaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend and I developed this premise together, but we had different routes we wanted to go so we decided to do this separately. They aren't ready to post yet, but probably will in the future, so keep an eye out for that. Anyway, that was the prologue. Let me know what you guys think! :D Updates should be once every other week; gonna take this slow.


	2. The Zoo

Her minor outburst at the dining table went largely ignored, much to her relief, due to Dudley’s ongoing tantrum, of which Remy had missed the beginning. Her “cousin’s” loud screeches and crocodile tears, while grating, allowed Remy to contemplate her predicament for a bit without any disturbances from her “aunt” and “uncle”.

So, she was now Harry Potter, and presumably, in the Harry Potter universe. Which begs the question: what had happened to the old Harry? Had she accidentally killed the eleven-year-old boy by commandeering his body? She hoped not. There really wasn’t much that she could do about it at this point though, so she decided that it would be best if she just never thought about it again. Denial worked wonders for situations like these.

Aside from that moral quandary, there was another matter to consider. It was fortunate that she, along with everyone else in the world, was quite familiar with the plot of the books. Unfortunately, she wasn’t really one for heroics. She doubted if she could pull off all the stunts the real Harry had pulled off. Now that she really thought about it, Harry was reckless as hell.

With the amount of foreknowledge she possessed, things were bound to go her way, right? How embarrassing would it be if she lost against Voldemort when she already knows exactly what moves he was going to make? What’s more was that book Harry had won even without the advantage, not to mention the fact that she was actually nineteen and had an eight year head-start on him.

She frowned and picked her spoon back up. This really wasn’t how she had expected her day to go. She had been merely walking to her university, and now she had to think about the logistics of defeating a dark lord? No thanks. She blamed her broken car for what she was going through. Waving these thoughts away, she decided to think about this later. She had lots of time. For now, she must focus on surviving the ordeal that was the Dursleys. Easier said than done.

The shock of becoming Harry Potter still hadn’t settled down, and Dudley’s loud wails certainly didn’t help any. It was just so strange, being the protagonist of a fictional book. Reincarnation, she could get behind, but this? The more she thought about it, the weirder it got.

That aside, was she truly ready to abandon her dreams as Remy and embrace the role of Harry Potter? It was something she would have to consider before she inevitably gets her Hogwarts letter — that was, _if_ she had magic. She desperately wished her friends and family were here — she could use some guidance.

The arrival of Dudley’s friend Piers effectively ended Dudley’s whining, and they prattled on excitedly about his new gifts and the visit to the zoo. Their excitement was so strong they barely even glanced over at Harry, save for a few antagonistic glares occasionally.

 _Ah yes, the zoo_. Remy could remember the scene from the movie clear as day. The question was: did she want to set the snake on Dudley? While it would no doubt be entertaining, she just wasn’t sure if the consequences would be worth it. She had already seen it in the movie version once anyway, so there really wasn’t any need to repeat it.

Without warning Vernon pulled Remy to the side, looking shifty.

"I'm warning you," he said, putting his face right up to Remy’s, "I'm warning you now, boy -- any funny business, anything at all -- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

“Aye, Aye captain,” Remy said, pulling her right arm into a mocking salute. While she didn’t dare outright antagonize the man, there was no harm in having a little fun, was there? His rudeness was making Remy reconsider if she wanted to sic the snake on Dudley or not. She had only been here less than twenty-four hours and the Dursleys were already one of her least favorite people in the world. It was quite the feat, she must say.

Vernon threw her a nasty look, before deciding that it wasn’t worth it to argue and ushered her to the car.

“Aw, Dad, why do I have to sit next to Harry?” Dudley whined after she crammed herself into the back of the car. “It’s my Birthday!” He balled his pudgy fists up and glared at Remy threateningly.

“It's only for a few minutes, Dudley dear. We’ll be there before you know it,” Petunia placated in a sickly-sweet voice. “Tell you what – if you can manage without complaining, your father and I will buy you as many ice creams as you want at the zoo.”

Remy could only snort while Dudley nodded vigorously, his beady eyes gleaming with anticipation.

And with that, Vernon began to drive, and as he drove, he complained. Incessantly. Mostly about Harry. She could see the veins on his neck pop, telling her everything she needed to know about his blood pressure.

Remy offered no resistance but could feel her own blood pressure rising at a rather fast pace. While she wasn’t the actual Harry Potter, the insults were still potent enough and she had to resist the urge to wrangle the man’s neck from behind his seat.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Vernon was unable to secure a parking lot right off the bat. It was a sunny weekend, and it seemed like every other family had the same creative idea of going out to the zoo. Remy silently prayed for an empty parking spot to show up so she wouldn’t have to hear Vernon cuss at every single passing car.

At last, Vernon found an empty spot and to get it, he cut off the other waiting car that was there before them. The car honked at them angrily, but Vernon ignored it. Remy had been so done with life that she didn’t care in the slightest and got out of the car lightning fast. She did _not_ want to hear more about the time Harry had turned his teacher’s hair purple, or the time he had teleported out of school, as cool as that sounded.

They lined up at the tickets booth, and Vernon begrudgingly handed Remy a ticket. The venom in his eyes as he did so filled Remy with glee, and she thanked him cheerily.

True to her word, Petunia immediately made a bee line toward the concession stand once they were in the zoo to buy her precious Diddykins ice cream. Remy hung around the back awkwardly, secretly wishing for one as well. The heat on her skin felt especially hot, as it had been in the throes of winter when she had died. _Died._ The word sounded foreign in her head.

Watching Dudley and Piers chomp on their ice cream while she was sweating on the side invoked a jealously Remy hadn’t felt since elementary school, and she fervently promised herself she would buy herself cool magical treats as soon as she got herself into Diagon Alley. Stuff that would make even Dudley green with envy.

The zoo itself was rather unremarkable, and Remy, a self-proclaimed zoo connoisseur who had been to at least three different zoos ranked it solidly last. Dudley and Piers didn’t improve the experience at all either; they wouldn’t stop trying to antagonize the animals into doing something entertaining, and would tap and scream at the glass repeatedly. To Remy’s regret, there was nothing she could do to stop them, so she focused instead on trying to put distance between them so the other families wouldn’t think she was related to them, god forbid.

After lunch – which consisted of more ice cream for Piers and Dudley -- they meandered over to the reptile house. Rubbing her hands together excitedly, she walked as close to Dudley as possible, ready to re-enact the scene. She had changed her mind about letting the snake out – the lack of ice cream in the heat had made her crankier and pettier than usual. Oblivious to Remy’s schemes, Dudley walked around some before picking out the biggest snake in the place and quickly made his way over. He pressed his nose right up against the glass and stared, as if entranced.

"Make it move," he whined at Vernon, who tapped on the glass. They were promptly ignored.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. And like a robot that had received a command, Vernon rapped the glass smartly. The snake didn’t even budge an inch.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. Then left. As soon as his back was turned, Remy immediately took his place in front of the glass.

 _Wait, now what?_ Remy didn’t really think this through. She racked her brain, trying to remember what Harry had done to set the snake in motion.

Turns out, she didn’t need to. To her surprise and glee, the snake opened its eyes and slowly slithered over, raising its head so that he was at Remy’s height. Then winked.

Remy blinked in shock, then grinned and winked back. Snakes were pretty cool.

The snake jerked its head toward Vernon and Dudley, all the while looking disdainful, or well, as disdainful as a snake could possibly look.

“I feel terrible for you. My cousin’s truly the worst,” Remy said, praying that she was speaking in Parseltongue. To her, it sounded exactly no different from how she usually talked. “It must suck to live like this.”

The snaked nodded vigorously, and Remy took it as a sign that he understood.

“Do you want to get out of here?” She asked, glancing over at the sign next to the glass. The words Boa Constrictor, Brazil were imprinted on it. “And go back to … Brazil?”

Before the snake could respond, there was a loud shout behind Remy.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Remy smiled. Now she just needed to make the glass disappear when the time was right. Easy. She knew exactly how to do that.

Dudley came running at the shout, surprising Remy with the speed. For someone that unhealthy, he sure could be fast when he wanted to be.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Remy in the ribs. Remy fell hard on the concrete floor, releasing a groan of pain. In that split second, Piers and Dudley, who were leaning right up close to the glass, suddenly leaped back, howling with horror.

“Ugh,” Remy grumbled. She had totally forgotten about the punch from Dudley. It was worth it though, she thought happily. In her first act of accidental magic, the glass had vanished exactly as planned. She stared, exhilarated, at her handiwork, impressed at how clean the cut was. It was as if the glass was never there. She could hardly believe it. It was hands down, the coolest thing she had ever done in her life.

The boa constrictor quickly uncoiled itself and slithered out. It didn’t take long for the people around to notice the escapee, and within moments, the reptile house was filled with screaming people looking for the exit. She felt slightly bad for causing the chaos.

Remy heard the snake say, "Brazil, here I come.... Thanksss, amigo," as it passed by her. Remy hoped it would be alright outside the zoo.

The zoo director apologized to them profusely, making Remy felt incredibly guilty — it wasn't his fault, after all. Dudley and Piers were a mess and kept making incomprehensible noises. As for Vernon, he was silent. Dead silent. Though the splotches of purple and red on his face told exactly Remy exactly what he was thinking.

By the time they were making their way back to the car, the two boys had calmed down enough to make up false stories about the snake escape — apparently, it had almost bitten off Dudley’s leg, and tried to squeeze Piers to death.

“Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?" Piers said once he was done spinning his tall tales.

Remy’s brain spun trying to figure out ways to talk her way out of this, however, judging from Vernon’s enraged face, there was no way. The ride back to the house was silent, save for more exaggerated tales from Dudley and Piers. Once they got home and Piers was out of the house, Vernon turned to Remy and managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair.

Remy was fine with this really, at least she wouldn’t have to interact with them anymore. It was a blessing in disguise.

The cupboard might be small, but it finally allowed Remy to take the time and reflect upon the gravity of her situation. She could definitely do magic, and she had Parseltongue! While she wished she didn’t have to die such a gruesome death, she supposed there were worse things to experience in the afterlife. She would miss her friends and family terribly, but hey, magic.

Remy swore she would make the most of this opportunity at a second life. There was so much she could do and so much she could change with what she knew. Voldemort will be sorry he ever tried to become a dark lord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said two weeks update time, but I got some time and finished editing so here we are. The next one should be in one or two weeks, we'll see :D


	3. The Letter

Remy’s banishment to the cupboard lasted for a long time, all the way up until the beginning of summer vacation. While it got claustrophobic at times, it gave her lots of time to come to terms with everything and get used to her new body. Being eleven years old again was very odd, to say the least. Sometimes, she would reach out to grab something only to fall short due to her short arms. On the bright side, her back pain was gone, as well as the constant migraine that she had been too busy to have gotten checked out.

Other than getting used to her new body, she also took the time to plan manically for the future. She had even written down a small bullet points list of the plot of the Harry Potter books. The handwriting was atrocious, but in her defense, she didn’t have much light to work with. All in all, she rated her productiveness in her cupboard a four out of five, a way higher score than her entire time at the university.

Once the Dursleys ended her banishment, she checked the mail fervently every day in hopes of intercepting the Hogwarts letter. She had to make sure Vernon doesn’t get his hands on it this time. She had debated the merits of doing the whole song and dance with the Dursleys and Hagrid, but in the end deemed it not worth it. While funny, antagonizing the Dursleys had swiftly gotten boring, and Remy had more important matters to attend to; the future of the wizarding world, for one.

The days seemed to drag on and on, and Remy was growing impatient. While Dudley had gaming consoles and friends to entertain himself with, Remy had nothing except for future planning — something that she had gotten terribly sick of after so long of doing nothing but that in the cupboard.

She spent most of her days drifting about aimlessly and occasionally trying to force out some magic and failing. She checked the mail constantly, to the point where the mailman had recognized her and would greet her every day. And yet, every day, she was disappointed. Nothing interesting was happening, and boredom was consuming her. The only other entertaining event that had occurred was Dudley showing off his new Smelting’s uniform. Oh, how she wished she had her phone or her laptop back.

On a certain Thursday, she entered the kitchen to the sight — no, smell — of Petunia doing god-knows-what with a washing bin. It seemed like a somewhat interesting gap in her sea of mundane days, so she went to check it out.

“What …” Remy had to turn to take a deep breath of fresh air before continuing, “what are you doing, exactly?”

“Can’t you tell?” she huffed, only to cough a few times after inhaling some of the poisonous fumes. “I’m dyeing some of Dudley’s old clothes for your new uniform.”

“New uniform, huh?” Remy leaned in closer for a better look, ignoring the watering of her eyes. From what she could tell, either an elephant shed its skins in the washbasin or she was mixing cement. “I don’t think I’ll be needing that, so I think for both our sakes, you should just throw that out.”

“What nonsense. Of course you’ll be needing this. For Stonewell high, remember?” She squinted at Remy suspiciously.  
“If you say so.” Remy shrugged. If Petunia wanted to torture herself with smelly elephant skin, who was she to stop her?

Exiting the kitchen, Remy’s keen hearing picked up on a small noise in the living room — the noise of today’s mail being delivered.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Vernon.

“I’ll get it!” Remy shouted before Dudley could respond, scrambling to the door. There, next to a postcard and a brown envelope, was a thick yellowish letter addressed to one Harry Potter. A surge of excitement went through her, and she stopped herself from cheering loudly. Quick as lighting, she scooped the letter up and shoved it down her shirt before anyone could see. Then, almost as an afterthought, she picked up the other mail and passed it to Vernon as nonchalantly as possible.

Vernon grunted when he received it. Remy stayed long enough to watch him rip open the brown envelope before walking back to her cupboard.

Once she was safely inside and away from prying eyes, she turned to her envelope. There was a purple wax seal with the Hogwarts logo, and her heart pounded with anticipation. While she already knew what was inside, it was still something else to actually have it in her hands.

Hands trembling, she slowly opened it, careful to preserve the parchment as much as possible. She was sure to keep it as a family heirloom for the rest of her life. Pulling out the letter, she reverently read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

_Owl?_ She wondered. How was she supposed to owl back? Perhaps the owl that had brought the letter here was still around for her to send the letter with? Tearing a sheet of paper out of her spiral notebook, she slowly wrote with her best penmanship a note containing her response and hurried outside. Vernon and Dudley looked at her with a funny expression as she dashed past them, but thankfully didn’t stop her.

Throwing the front door open, Remy was relieved to see a huge barn owl perched on the mailbox. Uncertainly, she handed over the scrap of paper she had grasped in her fist. The owl immediately took off with it, hooting across the sky.

Remy watched it go, feeling an odd mix of relief and awe.

She had done it. She was going to Hogwarts.

~~~

Now that all the Hogwarts affairs were in order, she was now ready for the second phase of her planning.

She pulled out Harry’s best notebook, for she knew from now on she would have to make very intricate plans, unlike the broad ones she had made during her time in the cupboard. While she did have the power of foreknowledge on her side, she couldn’t be sure that Voldemort will act exactly the same way as he did in the books.

First of all, she needed to get out of Privet Drive, blood wards be damned. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle the Dursleys — she had had much worse bosses than them back when she worked in retail — it was that she needed to be able to practice magic over the breaks. The most convenient way to achieve that was to free Sirius and then go from there. That by itself shouldn’t be too difficult — she just needed to convince Ron to give her “Scabbers” and then go to a professor. It would be preferable if she could remain anonymous in this, for she wanted to avoid being in the spotlight for as long as possible.

Secondly, she would have to steal the sorcerer’s stone and hide it until Quirrell left. Not the best plan, but she didn’t want to go to Dumbledore. If she showed her hand too soon, he would no doubt shut her entire operation down. With her foreknowledge, getting the stone shouldn’t be too much of an issue, she just needed to learn a bit of magic first.

Lastly, regarding the Horcruxes, there wasn’t much she could do as an eleven-year-old. She would try and get the diadem, the diary, and the locket, but again, she wasn’t sure how soon she wanted to show her hand. She wouldn’t have a way of destroying them anyway, unless she got the basilisk’s fang early on.

Rudimentary plans made, Remy gladly put down her pencil and wrung out her sore hand. Being locked up in the cupboard the entire time really put a damper on her physical progress, but plan wise she was pretty set.

By her estimations, Hagrid or some other professor will be coming for her in a few weeks' time. She was rather excited for the verbal smackdown on the Dursleys that will no doubt occur once they realize her living situation. Crackling to herself, she laid back down on her mattress.

Her rough estimation turned out to be correct, and on a Saturday at one pm sharp, a loud knocking sound was heard in the living room.

Petunia had been the unfortunate one to open the door, and a loud screech could be heard at 1:01.

Curious as to what had caused the chaos, Dudley and Remy came out to take a gander.

A lady was standing at the doorway fully decked out in wizarding robes. It was probably McGonagall. Remy felt a small stab of disappointment that it wasn’t Hagrid, but it went away as soon as it had come. It seemed as if some things have already changed.

Remy flounced over to greet her, eager to make a good impression. But before she could get a word in, however, Petunia was already trying to drive her off.

“You ...! Your sort aren’t welcome here. Now get out of here before I call the authorities.” She made a move to slam the door. However, much to her horror, the door refused to budge no matter how much force she put in.

“Who is it, Pet?” Vernon asked, gambling over to see. His expression morphed into one of rage as soon as he saw, and he roared, “Get out of my house! You lot aren’t welcome.”

“… As I was saying.” she continued, face pinched. “I am Professor McGonagall and I’m here on behalf of Headmaster Dumbledore in regards to Harry’s schooling.” Just like how it was described in the books, she wore a severe look. The harsh expression seemed to drive fear into Petunia, and she wavered ever so slightly. “If I may, I’d like to come in and have a talk with Harry.”

She pushed Petunia to the side and strode in.

Petunia made a strangled sound, and Vernon quickly moved to block her.

“Now see here, this is private property and I am forbidding you entry.” His face had grown dangerously red and looked to be on a verge of a heart attack.

Dudley looked at her curiously, and Petunia glared at him before he could say anything.

“I am only here to talk to Harry. I don’t wish to linger in your ... company any longer than I have to.” Her eyes scanned the room until landed on Harry and the scar on his forehead. “What have you been feeding the boy? He looks positively malnourished.”

“We feed him plenty,” Petunia said, her face coloring. “You ought to be grateful we are giving him a roof over his head and clothes over his back. We didn’t have to.”

“I’d rather not have any of those things than have to live with you,” Remy said in a neutral tone.

“Why you...!” Vernon looked fit to explode. “Get out of my house,” he roared. “Out!”

McGonagall looked very done.

“I am here to take Harry shopping for school supplies,” she said. “We have already received his confirmation letter to Hogwarts.”

Petunia paled several shades.

“Hogwarts? Don’t be ridiculous, the boy is going to Stonewell. We’ve spent so much time stomping the freakishness out of him, and we aren’t about to let you corrupt him.”

“James and Lily’s son going to a muggle school? Why I…!” McGonagall’s voice hitched, and she looked offended.

Remy decided it was time to intervene and have a little fun, while also getting some pity points from McGonagall. Widening her eyes to feign innocence, she turned towards McGonagall.

“Did you know my parents? My Aunt and Uncle said they were killed in a drunk car crash. Is that true?”

McGonagall looked faint.

“No, Harry,” her voice had gone surprisingly soft. “Your parents were very good people. They died saving your life. Did your Aunt and Uncle really not tell you anything?”

“No, not really. Also, is Hogwarts really a school for magic and wizardry? I saw it on the letter.” She smiled inwardly. This was going well for her.

“NO, HARRY!” Vernon bellowed. “There is no such thing as magic, don’t let the freak get these lies in your head. They are lies, lies I tell you!”

McGonagall looked furious. She got out her wand with a flourish and uttered a single incantation. Vernon opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The expression on his face was priceless, making Remy wish she had a camera on her. Petunia looked horrified, while Dudley just looked confused, as always.

“Now, we can finally have a constructive conversation. As I was saying, magic is real, as you just saw. Your parents were magical as well, that’s why you got the letter to Hogwarts.”

“Wow, that’s a cool trick.” She didn’t have to pretend to be awed. “When we went to the zoo, I made the snake’s glass vanish and it got out. Was that magic too?”

“Indeed. In the magic world, we would call that accidental magic. As your studies progress in Hogwarts, those occurrences should decrease as your control gets better.”

She glanced over at the Dursleys. “Now, shall we go to Diagon Alley? It’s a place where wizards shop for magical supplies, and where Hogwarts students buy the items on that list in your letter. I can explain more to you once we get there.”

“Sure thing, I’ll just go grab some of my stuff.”

She had packed all her belongings in a backpack in preparation for this visit. There was no way in hell she was going to hang around here for the rest of the summer, she had had enough for a lifetime. Since she planned on freeing Sirius, there would be no reason for her to come back at all unless something went awry.

Turning around, she crawled into the cupboard and quickly slung her backpack on her back. Bidding a silent farewell to her crappy shelter for the last few months, she returned to the living room.

McGonagall was looking at her with a slightly disturbed face.

“Was that your storage room?”

“Nope, it’s where I live.” She shrugged, feigning nonchalance to maintain her innocent image. “Look.” She opened the cupboard door to show her the inside.

Her face got even more stern, so much so that even Remy felt alarmed.

“Harry, why don’t you go outside for a bit? We can leave right after I have a little talk with your aunt and uncle.”

“Okay.” She hurried out, giving the Dursleys a small wave while cheering internally. She had done it.

Pressing her ear against the door, she tried her best to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, McGonagall seemed to have thought ahead and had casted some sort of noise-canceling charm preventing her from hearing anything. Disappointed, she sat on the front steps to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! There we go, chapter 2 done. :D Hopefully the next update will be in a week or two, but I have finals so we shall see.


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